Iranian President Calls
Holocaust a 'Myth'
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's
hard-line president lashed out with a new outburst at Israel on
Wednesday, calling the Nazi Holocaust a "myth" used as a pretext
for carving out a Jewish state in the heart of the Muslim
world.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments drew quick condemnations
from Israel, the United States and Europe, which warned he is
hurting Iran's position in talks aimed at resolving suspicions
about his regime's nuclear program.
The White House said his remarks showed why Iran must not be
allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Germany, one of three European
Union countries leading the nuclear talks, called his statements
"shocking and unacceptable."
Iran and the Europeans are due to resume the U.S.-backed
negotiations soon, possibly in late December, trying to find a
compromise on reining in Tehran's nuclear program and avoiding a
confrontation.
Washington says Iran is secretly trying to build warheads. Iran
says its nuclear program is peaceful, and Ahmadinejad reiterated
Wednesday that his regime refuses to give up key processes that can
produce weapons-grade material as well as fuel for atomic reactors
that generate electricity.
It was difficult to measure the impact that increasing anger over
Ahmadinejad might have on the negotiations.
The Europeans have not threatened to call off the talks, which they
see as vital to a peaceful resolution of fears over Iran's nuclear
ambitions. But Ahmadinejad's words, which come as the top U.N.
nuclear watchdog agency has said it is losing patience with Tehran,
could lead Europe to take a tougher stance.
So far, Ahmadinejad has appeared to only escalate his rhetoric in
the face of widespread international criticism, suggesting he may
be seeking to fire up supporters at home.
Barroso says the Iranian president's comments show the country
shouldn't have access to nuclear power.
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Some allies warn that he is isolating the country when it needs
support for its nuclear program. But supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, who has final word on all matters, has stood by the
president, even calling this week for Palestinian militants to step
up their fight to drive Israelis out of Jerusalem.
Ahmadinejad provoked an outcry in October when he called for Israel
to be "wiped off the map." When that drew international anger, he
responded by holding large anti-Israel rallies.
Last week, he expressed doubt about Nazi Germany's slaughter of 6
million European Jews during World War II, raising a new storm of
criticism. On Wednesday, he went a step further and said for the
first time that he didn't believe the Holocaust happened.
During a tour of southeastern Iran, Ahmadinejad said that if
Europeans insist the Holocaust occurred, then they are responsible
and should pay the price.
"Today, they have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and
consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets,"
Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Zahedan. "If you committed
this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation
pay the price?"
"This is our proposal: If you committed the crime, then give a part
of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to
them so that the Jews can establish their country," he said.
The White House said Ahmadinejad's words "only underscore why it is
so important that the international community continue to work
together to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the speech
illustrated "the mind-set of the ruling clique in Tehran and
indicate clearly the extremist policy goals of the regime."
The German government summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires to
express its displeasure.
"I cannot hide the fact that this weighs on bilateral relations and
on the chances for the negotiation process," Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin.
In unusually strong comments, the president of the European Union's
administrative body, Jose Manuel Barroso, said Iranians "do not
have the president, or the regime, they deserve."
"It calls our attention to the real danger of that regime having an
atomic bomb," Barroso added.
EU foreign ministers were likely to discuss Ahmadinejad's comments
during an EU summit Thursday, commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin
said.
Inside Iran, moderates have called on the Islamic cleric-led regime
to rein in the president. His election in June sealed the long
decline of Iran's reform movement, which had largely dropped the
harsh anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. rhetoric of the 1979 Islamic
Revolution and sought to build international ties.
In his speech, Ahmadinejad also took aim at the United States and
the West, saying they had harmed Muslims.
"If your civilization consists of aggression, making oppressed
people homeless, suffocating the voices of justice and bringing
poverty to a majority of the world's people, we say loudly that we
hate your hollow civilization," he said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_HOLOCAUST?SITE=ASIAONE&SECTION=TOP_STORIES&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
This is one hardliner who believes in fairy tales and
fiction.
Next he'll be saying he's a messanger of God.
Well, good luck to the iranians; they threw 25 years of reforms
back into the toilet bowl thanks to this president.
